title: A simple novel technique to induce short-lasting local brain ischaemia in the rat.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Brain ischaemia models are essential to study the pathomechanisms of stroke. Our aim was to investigate the reliability and reproducibility of our novel focal ischaemia-reperfusion model.
  
  
  METHODS
  To induce a cortical transient ischaemic attack, we lifted the distal middle cerebral artery (MCA) with a special hook. The early changes after 2 × 15-min occlusion were observed in the somatosensory evoked responses (SERs). The histological responses to 2 × 15-min MCA occlusion and to 30-, 45- or 60-min ischaemia were examined after a 1-day survival period by 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) and Fluoro Jade C (FJC) staining. Another group, with 30-min ischaemia, was analysed histologically by FJC, S100 and CD11b labelling after a 5-day survival period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The amplitudes of the SERs decreased immediately at the beginning of the ischaemic period, and remained at a reduced level during the ischaemia. Reperfusion resulted in increasing SER amplitudes, but they never regained the control level. The short-lasting ischaemia did not lead to brain infarction when evaluated with TTC, but intense labelling was found with FJC. The 30-min ischaemia did not result in FJC labelling after 1 day, but marked labelling was observed after 5 days with FJC, S100 and CD11b in the cortical area supplied by the MCA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We present here a novel, readily reproducible method to induce focal brain ischaemia. The ischaemia-reperfusion results in noteworthy changes in the SERs and the appearance of conventional tissue damage markers. This method involves possibilities for precise blood flow regulation, and the setting of the required level of perfusion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Neuroscience, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Levente
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Knapp
authors.forename: Levente
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gellért
authors.forename: Judit
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Herédi
authors.forename: Kitti
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kocsis
authors.forename: Gáspár
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Oláh
authors.forename: János
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fuzik
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kis
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vécsei
authors.forename: József
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Toldi
authors.forename: Tamás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Farkas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D020244:Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: Fluoro Jade C; TIA; brain ischaemia; middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO); somatosensory evoked potentials; stroke